The Palo Alto-based company, Xatori, makes an app called "PlugShare" that helps electric vehicle drivers find public charging stations, as well as share their own home charging stations with fellow EV enthusiasts. The company disclosed Aug. 29 that the network of charging stations it has on its app has grown to more than 11,000 across North America — up from 500 when the service first launched last year.

Those numbers show Xatori working hard to get more stations listed, but also reflect an increase in the number of charging stations that are out there.

"When we started, there were only a few hundred places you could charge your car across the U.S., and in the first few months that we launched, we doubled or tripled that by people who share their residences as a place to charge," said Xatori CEO Forrest North. Today, "there’s 11,000 locations, most of them with multiple charging ports, across the U.S. And now a little less than one-fourth are people that are sharing their outlets."

The company also has ranked the most EV-friendly locations. Northern California ranks first for EV ownership per capita, the company says, but has some work left to do on installing charging stations. Portland, Ore., ranked first for the number of public charging stations per 100,000 residents, while the Bay Area was only fourth.